Budget Cuts and the Titans of Technology

October 29, 2013 | The Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is no longer the number one supercomputer in the world (see, “The Tennessee Titan”). On its own, a shift in the supercomputing rankings is not surprising. But Thom Mason, director of Oak Ridge, is afraid America may soon slip permanently behind. "The issue is not so much who's No. 1 in the horse race," he tells NPR. "But we think it's important for the U.S. to always be amongst that group that is pushing the envelope." NPR